1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique for determining a target face from a still image or moving image including plural faces.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a face detecting technique is applied to an imaging device or the like and realizes a convenient function. When the face detecting technique is applied to a digital camera, for example, the camera can automatically focus the detected face. Therefore, a photograph in which the face of the subject is in focus can be more simply taken, compared to a technique for bringing the subject positioned at the center of the screen into focus.
However, in the case where plural faces are present in the image, a problem arises in which the face in the image that should be in focus cannot be specified.
In order to solve this problem, a method has conventionally been known in which information relating to looks of the face that should be detected and the priority of this face are recorded, and focusing is carried out by utilizing these factors (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-333652).
According to this method, even if plural faces are present in the image, the face that matches the face recorded beforehand as the face to be detected and that has the highest priority can be specified as the face that should be in focus.
However, the conventional technique forces a user to do a complicated operation for registering beforehand the information relating to looks of the face to be detected and the priority of this face. If the user does not do this operation, the face to which attention should be given cannot consequently be specified.